Author: ericfolkerth

Eric Folkerth is a minister, musician, author and blogger. He is Senior Pastor of Kessler Park UMC United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. Previously, he was pastor at Northaven UMC in Dallas for seventeen years. Eric loves to write on topics of spirituality, social justice, music/art and politics. The entries on this blog reflect that diversity of interests. His passion for social justice goes beyond mere words. Eric was arrested at the White House, defending immigrants and “The Dreamers;” and he’s officiated at same sex weddings. Eric was the 2017 recipient of the prestigeous Kuchling Humanitarian Award from Dallas’ Black Tie Dinner. (Human Rights Campaign) Eric has led or co-led hundreds of persons on mission trips to build houses and bring medical care around the globe, to places such as Mexico, Haiti, Russia, Guatemala, and Nepal. He is proud of have shephereded Highland Park UMC's construction of ten Habitat for Humanity homes, (and one Community Center) and helped forge an alliance with Habitat that led to the construction of 100 homes in Dallas, housing thousands of people. His wife, Justice Dennise Garcia, has 20 years experience as a state district judge and appelate justice in North Texas. First elected in 2004, she was the first Latina ever elected to a Dallas County state district bench, and she she left that position whe was the longest currently serving district judge. In 2020 Dennise Garcia was a elected as a Justice of the 5th District Court of Appeals for Texas. She is currently running to be Chief of the 5th District Court of Appeals in the 2024 cycle. They have the world’s best daughter, Maria, who is a practicing professional counselor in Dallas. Find links to Eric’s music-related websites, at the top of this site’s navigation menu.

Let’s Help Jesus Not Throw Up

October 25, 2019.Reading time 11 minutes.

“If Jesus came back, and saw what’s going on in his name, he’d never stop throwing up.” — Woody Allen What am I supposed to do with the fact that, apparently, Robert Jeffress and Woody Allen agree with one another? Besides being men who —many believe— carry sexual secrets, what else do these two have […]

Thoughts on Today’s #TrumpRally

October 17, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

I want to follow up on my prayer of a little earlier, and talk a bit about today. My prayer earlier was: Dear God, May everyone in our city be safe and may the day be violence free. Amen. #TrumpDallasRally For many of us in Dallas, given our history, we hold our breath any time […]

Has Homosexual Always Been in the Bible?

October 9, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

In our Methodist tradition, we (wrongly) claim “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” The research behind this story tells us: That does not appear to be true. We are lying to ourselves about what historical Biblical teaching actually said. Before we get into it, and for those who are confused….there’s an old […]

Forgiveness and Justice: Hearing Both of the Jean’s

October 2, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Botham Jean’s brother, Brandt, offered a remarkable moment of forgiveness toward Amber Guyger today in the courtroom. But his Mother said deeply important things too. We must hear them both. Brandt offered forgiveness and an embrace to Amber Guyger. As DA John Creuzot said, almost nobody in the judicial system sees moments like that, ever. […]

“The Greater Empathy” Thoughts on Guyger Trial, Week One

September 27, 2019.Reading time 11 minutes.

What if our opinions on the Amber Guyger trial comes down to a question of “who do you feel empathy toward?” It may not come down to this. This may be a foolish question to ask. But the question keeps popping up in my head this week, as I’ve listened to the testimony…and especially as […]

The Guyger Trial: First Day Thoughts

September 24, 2019.Reading time 12 minutes.

The murder trial of Amber Guyger is underway here in Dallas. For those of you outside the city, or not paying attention, sufficed to say our city is tense and anxious about the trial and upcoming verdict. Last Monday, I was at a meeting of about 40 clergy with Faith Forward Dallas. There was extended […]

What Will YOU do?

August 31, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

As we crossed back to the US yesterday, I snapped this first pic of a sign placed by Border Patrol: “CPB Welcomes Your Comments.” We had just spent time listening to the stories of migrants camped out on the Mexican side. Cubans. Hondurans. Salvadorans and Guatemalans. All of them have been pushed back across our […]

The Crisis We Are Creating

August 30, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

As we cross the border today, I’m struck by the predominance of FEAR. Fear of “The Other” is fundamentally what drives the kind of policies we see now. We must understand the real dynamic of the past two years: 1. While our immigration laws have needed reform for decades, there was never any “invasion.” 2. […]

Today on the Border

August 30, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Today, we cross the border to see the violence/damage that the “metering” policy has wrought. God calls us to love the neighbor as we love ourselves. To have one law for the migrant and the citizen. Instead, we created a new “metering” that is subjecting migrants, Mexicans, AND US CITIZENS to new and dangerous crime […]

Thomas Merton Had It Easy

August 27, 2019.Reading time 9 minutes.

I spent a good bit of my twenties pissed off at Thomas Merton. I was pissed off by a very specific thing in his writings. Merton writes beautifully about the need for regular time in prayer, quiet, and contemplation. He also writes scathingly about the chaos, noise, and confusion of everyday life for most people […]